On 29/08/2021 20:44, joseph pareti wrote:
In the code attached below, the A-variant is from somebody else who knows
Python better than I. But I do not like to just use any code without having
a grasp, specifically the line in* bold*, so I wrote the B-variant which
gives the same results. The C-variant is identical to A and is there for
verification: after resetting the seed I expect the same sequence. The
D-variant is closer to the way I code, and it does not work.

So you do you want us to debug the _EXPLICIT version?
The assignment

>          X[i] = [randint(0, n_unique-1)]

creates a list with one element and turns it into an item in the list X.
You don't want a list, you want the numerical value, the straight-forward way to achieve that being

X[i] = randint(0, n_unique-1)

An alternative is to assign to a slice

X[i:i+1] = [randint(...)]

but that would only make sense if the right-hand-side list weren't created in the line and ditched immediately afterwards.



import random
from random import randint, seed

def generate_sequence(length, n_unique):
*return [randint(0, n_unique-1) for k in range(length)]*

The above is the most pythonic of the three versions. Once you understand how for loops with a list.append() are turned into comprehensions it will be easy to write and read that style. Definitely worth learning and adopting.


def generate_sequence_JP(length, n_unique):
    LI = []
    for k in range(length):
      LI.append(randint(0, n_unique-1))
    return(LI)


This is also fine and often used when the loop body is a bit more complex, but

def generate_sequence_EXPLICIT(length, n_unique):
    X =[None] * length
       for i in range(length):
         X[i] = [randint(0, n_unique-1)]
    return X

this is garbage even when it works, usually indicative of premature optimization.

Random (yeah!) remark: Python uses half-open intervals (i. e. intervals that include the lower bound, but not the upper bound) almost everywhere. randint() is one exception.
Personally I prefer its conformist sister randrange(); with that
    randint(0, n_unique-1)
becomes
    randrange(n_unique)

#
# MAIN PROGRAM
#
random.seed(2)
A = generate_sequence(4, 10 )
random.seed(2)
B = generate_sequence_JP(4, 10)
random.seed(2)
C = generate_sequence(4, 10 )
random.seed(2)
D = generate_sequence_EXPLICIT(4, 10 )
print(A)
print(type(A))
print('-----------------------------')
print(B)
print(type(B))
print('-----------------------------')
print(C)
print(type(C))
print('-----------------------------')
print(D)
print(type(D))


Regards,
Joseph Pareti - Artificial Intelligence consultant
Joseph Pareti's AI Consulting Services
https://www.joepareti54-ai.com/
cell +49 1520 1600 209
cell +39 339 797 0644



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